Episode 1590 Talkback - Off The Racks: The Spirit 1, Star Trek/Green Lantern 1, We Stand On Guard 1

i_am_scifi

One more slightly out-of-date Off the Racks to go before we return our attention to the present! This time, our riotous Rack-onteurs Chris and Murd revisit three July releases that raise such tantalizing questions as: Why will the United States invade Canada in the early 22nd Century? How did Lantern Corps power-rings end up in Federation space, aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise? And if Will Eisner's The Spirit isn't actually present in the first few issues of his new series, then where the heck is he?? (Warning: Some mild SPOILERS may occur!)

Listen here!

TheOriginalGMan

Guys ... you may want to consider posting a link to "the emergency back-up forums" on your home page, Twitter, and Facebook.

nweathington

I didn't pick up The Spirit #1. The art just didn't do it for me. I do, however, have a copy of Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style on a shelf next to my desk. I'm disappointed to learn they set the series in the ’40s. Darwyn Cooke had the good sense (and I second Chris’ appreciation for Darwyn’s Spirit work), and I believe Will Eisner would have agreed with him, to set his Spirit series in a nebulous, somewhat timeless “present day,” in the same way Batman: The Animated Series did, because he felt The Spirit was Eisner’s way of commenting on the times. Not a specific fixed point in time (in this case the ’40s), but the ever-changing and evolving times.

As Adam pointed out, The Spirit wasn't so much about Denny Colt, but about experiments in storytelling. But more often than not, it was also about our society and culture and humanity. When producing new Spirit stories, I think it should be far more important to tell a smart, interesting story in a smart, interesting way than to figure out a cute new way to incorporate the title into the background of the splash page and come up with clever puns for the villains’ names. That obvious surface detail is fun to see, but for it to truly live up to The Spirit’s heritage, the story needs to have depth and heart. Judging by the review, it doesn't sound like this first issue had that. Since it's Matt Wagner, I may give it a try at some point, but my hopes have been lowered.

And, yes, Brennan Wagner is Matt Wagner’s son.

nweathington

I read the first issue of We Stand on Guard as soon as it came out, but as big a fan of Brian K. Vaughan as I am (see my nomination for Best Writer of the Year) the book didn't really do much for me. It has nothing to do with the sentiment behind the story, which I definitely empathize with (and I agree with pretty much everything Chris said in that regard), it just didn't hook me at all. To be fair, I wasn't completely sold on Y: The Last Man until around issue #7 or 8, but there was something in those first issues that intrigued me enough to keep me coming back. Not so here, and I can't put my finger on why that is. (Edit: Perhaps it's because when I read this type of story I prefer the scalpel approach to the sledgehammer approach, and this felt a bit too much like the latter. Sometimes the sledgehammer is the best tool for the job—and perhaps it was here too, I don’t know—but it's not the type of approach I enjoy reading.)

I wasn't nearly as enthralled with Skroce’s art as you guys, and maybe that had something to do with my reaction to the book. It was solid, and served the story just fine, but it felt rather generic to me.

Given that it's Vaughan and it's gotten by and large positive reviews, I'll probably pick up the trade if I find it cheap. Though to your point about Image’s $9.99 trades, those are done for ongoing series, but not so much for miniseries. More likely this will be a $14.99-19.99 trade.

nweathington

@Adam_Murdough, your review of Gutter Magic makes me wish Kurt Busiek and Carlos Pacheco could go back and finish Arrowsmith.

TheOriginalGMan

I read the 1st couple of issues of Stand on Guard and dropped it. Didn't do much for me either, Eric. One of the few times I've disagreed with Professor Eberle.

The Star Trek / Lantern crossover intrigued me, but I passed on it given how unsatisfied I found the Star Trek / Planet of the Apes crossover.

compsolut

I picked up We Stand On Guard after hearing the review, and actually really enjoyed it. I don't think I was expecting anything like Private Eye or Saga out of BKV on this, but still really enjoyed his pace and style of storytelling. The art was good, nothing like Fiona, but overall, even if it was middle of the road BKV, it was still better than many other books on the shelves!

alienal

Hey, popped in just to say that I really enjoyed We Stand On Guard: BUY! (I didn't read the other two OTR issues). I liked the story (I'm gonna show it to my Canadian co-workers to see what they think) and the art! I saw that all the issues are on sale at DCBS this month! Wow...I missed 3 and 4, so I'm gonna jump on that!